The MoD is set to plough £1.5 billion into transforming ‘mouldy, damp and freezing’ military homes as part of a major spending review. More than £1.5 billion in extra funding for the housing will be confirmed as part of the Government’s strategic defence review, the Ministry of Defence has said. The review, expected soon, will set out the money which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said was urgently needed to tackle repairs such as fixing roofs and boilers and stopping damp.
Speaking on a visit to some military homes in Cambridgeshire, Defence Secretary John Healey said: “I’m announcing through the strategic defence review a record increase – £1.5 billion in the next five years – to upgrade military family homes. Our forces make extraordinary sacrifices to keep us safe and to serve this country and yet for years, we’ve forced their families to live in substandard homes that you or I … just wouldn’t tolerate.”
He also said the review will “recognise the fact that the world is changing, threats are increasing”.
The strategic defence review was launched by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year, as the Government looks to overhaul Britain’s military in the face of rising global tensions.
Ahead of the review, the UK has already committed to spend 2.5% of gross domestic product – a measure of the size of the economy – on defence from April 2027, rising to 3% during the next Parliament.
Last month, the Government launched a consumer charter aimed at improving the living conditions for service personnel and their families. It commits to higher move-in standards, more reliable repairs and a named housing officer for every family.
It also pledges a shorter complaints process and more freedom for families to be able to make improvements to their service homes.
Liberal Democrat defence spokeswoman Helen Maguire called on the Government to go further in its pledge, by bringing military accommodation up to the decent homes standard – the minimum standards that social homes should meet.
She said she was “glad to see this Government has finally come to their senses and listened”, and added: “Those bravely defending our country deserve proper housing without leaks, mould, floods and freezing temperatures.
“But it’s disappointing to see the Government refuse to commit to bring all military homes under the decent homes standard – a change the Lib Dems will continue to champion, so no military family has to suffer in a second-rate home.”
Ms Maguire previously told the PA news agency that military families were “struggling over the 80th anniversary of VE (Victory in Europe) Day”, after the Government revealed it had logged 442 urgent repair requests for service family accommodation during the week which began on May 5.
